Here’s a brain teaser for you. See if you can connect the dots between these two stories. If you can, then you are too intelligent to be a member of the California legislature…

1. Wednesday, California legislators introduced 14 different “reparations” bills. They are expected to pass easily and be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. They would take billions of dollars away from people who never owned slaves and were not descended from slave owners in a state that never allowed slavery, and give it to people who never were slaves and may or may not be descendants of slaves.

https://amgreatness.com/2024/02/01/california-legislature-introduces-slavery-reparations-bills/

These bills would also provide “reparations” on a variety of other fronts, such as allegedly race-based takings of property under eminent domain. All this would likely face expensive legal challenges, since that’s clearly racially discriminatory: people of all races have lost property to eminent domain, but only people of certain races would be paid for it.

Now, see if you spot a connection from that story to this story…

2. The Mieses Institute warns that we may be facing an unprecedented wave of states (all blue states, like New York, New Jersey and Illinois) that will be forced to declare bankruptcy to get out from under their huge debt load, amassed from runaway spending combined with driving out productive, taxpaying citizens. The leading state in terms of bankruptcy risk: California, which went virtually overnight from allegedly having a $98 billion surplus to having a $68 billion deficit.

https://thelibertydaily.com/commiefornia-new-york-more-may-be-first-coming/

It’s not clear what would happen economically if entire states defaulted on their bond debt. But with Democrats and too many complicit big government Republicans in charge in Washington, the federal government may be in even worse shape. As that article notes, there are twelve states, mostly those with constitutions that require them to balance their budgets, that have higher credit ratings than the USA.

Extremely Related: I often see anti-Trump commenters online claiming that the only reason Trump is doing well in polls is because Biden is so terrible, but if he drops out and is replaced by someone like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, then Trump would lose in a landslide. While I do think Biden makes almost anyone else look better in comparison, do Americans really want their entire nation to be run like California? (Biden is already giving that a try, right down to trying to impose new rules to kill contractor and gig work.)

Here's an example of how Newsom is running California, and why he’s shocked that anyone might blame him for the rampant crime that’s turned every store into a soon-to-close provider of free goods to brazen shoplifters.

https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2024/02/01/newsom-target-story-n4926021

Someone should check his hair gel to see if it causes brain damage. Maybe he had to buy an off-brand because it was the only thing left on the shelves at Walgreens.